Friday, March 19, 2010

DARK CHOCOLATE TART - TARTE NOIRE

Last weekend, I had an irrepressible need to feed my craving for dark chocolate desserts. That happens to me quite often, although I am not a "chocolate addict". I am a big chocolate lover, but I don't have this compulsive need for it. As matter of fact, I can survive without eating any for days (though not for life)...

I felt uneasy and shifty like a tiger in a cage, roaming up and down the apartment in search of a fulfilling recipe. I wanted something transcending and soul-uplifting.

As it is many times the case, I found what I was looking for in Dorie Greespan's "Baking From My Home To Yours". As I needed to savor a chocolate-based tart with character and a strong taste of chocolate, I was naturally drawn to her "Dark chocolate Tart" recipe which's name sounded so promising to me.

This sophisticated, yet simple tart is an irresistible pastry that any dessert freak should have made at least once. The taste of chocolate is exhaliratingly heady, strong and bitter, the crust is so flaky and buttery and the filling is so sleek, rich, smooth and the cocoa nibs add a wonderfully crunchy contrast. It can't get any better!

Dorie's dangerously addictive "Dark Chocolate Tart" is definitely for amateurs of "real" chocolate in search of a cocoa fix and not for the faint of heart...

~ Dark Chocolate Tart ~Recipe taken from "Baking From My Home To Yours" by Dorie Greenspan and slightly adapted by Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums 2010.

Method for the "Crust":1. Put the flour, cocoa powder, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.2. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry mixture and pulse until you obtain small pieces of butter, the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas (if you don’t have a mixer, you can put the ingredients in a bowl and rub the butter with your fingers.)3. Stir the yolk with a fork and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition.4. Process in long pulses (10 seconds each) until the dough comes together in clumps and curds.5. Turn the dough to a lightly floured surface a knead briefly in order to incorporate the dry ingredients that might have escaped the mixing.6. Lightly butter a 9-inch (22cm or you could make several tartlets) fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan.7. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes (longer is preferable).8. Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 180° C (350° F).9. Butter a piece of parchment paper and fit the paper, buttered side down, tightly against the crust.10. Put the tart pan on a baking tray and bake for 25 minutes.11. Carefully remove the paper. If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon.12. Bake for another 8 minutes or so.13. Transfer the tart pan to a rack and cool the crust completely before filling.

Method for the "Filling":1. Put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and have a whisk at hand.2. Bring the cream to a boil, then pour half of it over the chocolate and let it sit for 30 seconds. Working with the whisk, very gently stir the chocolate and cream together in small circles, starting at the centre of the bowl and working your way out.3. Pour in the remainder of the cream and blend it into the chocolate, using the same circular motion.4. When the ganache is smooth and shiny, stir in the butter piece by piece and add the cocoa nibs.5. Pour the ganache into the crust and gently turn the pan from side to side to even the ganache.6. Refrigerate the tart for 30-40 minutes to set the ganache.7. Remove the tart from the fridge and keep it at room temperature until serving.

Remarks:Always remember to use the best chocolate as the taste of your tart will depend on it.Don’t stir the ganache any more than you must to blend the ingredients – the less you work it, the darker, smoother and shinier it will be.Purists will want to enjoy the tart at room temperature and au naturel, but you can of course serve it cold, served straight out of the fridge.

Serving suggestions:Serve that tart the day it is made or latest the next day.Eat it alone or accompanied by whipped cream or ice cream (vanilla, peanut butter, pecan, walnut, caramel, etc...).

Oh ROsa, this is so deliciously, i wanna make some chocolate tarts for quite some time now and u pinged me right there:-))))Cheers and fantastic day,which u sure will have with the delicious chocolate:-)))

Oh wow, what a stunning tart! I generally prefer citrus to chocolate desserts but can't resist anything with dark chocolate. I love your plates too by the way which make for gorgeous compositions. I could spend hours looking at your photos.

Like you, I can live without chocolate for days and then get a sudden craving for it. That usually happens when I see such wonderfully chocolate dessert like this tart. It looks heavenly! Now excuse me, I have to go and get me some chocolate :)

Rosa, this chocolate tart looks so decadent, wild, devilish, tempting, deliciously good that I am finding it difficult to resist giving a couple of peeps back to the recipe and the pictures you have posted here!!!